Validation of a smart textile device for long-duration heart rate variability and detection of physiological arrhythmias in resting horses.
Authors: McCrae Persephone, Spong Hannah, Moorehead Jordyn, Pearson Wendy
Journal: BMC veterinary research
Summary
# Editorial Summary McCrae et al. investigated whether a wearable smart textile device could reliably record heart rate variability (HRV) and detect arrhythmias during prolonged monitoring in horses, addressing a practical gap in non-invasive cardiac assessment technology. Twelve horses underwent simultaneous 6-hour ECG recording using both the Myant Skiin Equine textile device and a gold-standard reference system (Televet 100), with ECGs analysed for arrhythmias and HRV metrics calculated from both recordings. Agreement between devices was assessed using Bland–Altman analysis and Lin's concordance correlation coefficient to determine clinical validity. The textile device demonstrated strong concordance with the reference device for HRV parameters and successfully identified physiological arrhythmias, supporting its reliability for extended cardiac monitoring in resting equine patients. This validation opens meaningful applications for field-based HRV assessment and long-term arrhythmia screening—valuable for performance evaluation, stress monitoring during rehabilitation, and early detection of cardiac abnormalities without requiring stabling at clinical facilities.
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Practical Takeaways
- •Smart textile devices offer a practical alternative for extended cardiac monitoring in horses without requiring lead attachments, potentially improving compliance with long-duration monitoring protocols
- •This validation supports use of wearable textile technology for detecting clinically relevant arrhythmias and assessing HRV changes in resting horses during routine management
- •Consider incorporating textile-based ECG monitoring for horses requiring serial cardiac assessment, as it may allow easier data collection in field or barn settings compared to traditional Holter monitors
Key Findings
- •Smart textile device (Myant Skiin Equine) successfully recorded ECGs simultaneously with reference device (Televet 100) in 12 horses over 6-hour periods
- •Device demonstrated capability for long-duration HRV monitoring in resting horses with agreement assessed via Bland-Altman analysis and Lin's concordance correlation
- •Smart textile device detected physiological arrhythmias with blinded observer evaluation confirming utility for arrhythmia identification